Pernix Therapeutics Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PTX) Just Cemented Its Status As A Turnaround Stock

It's only been a week or so since we last looked at Pernix Therapeutics Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PTX), with our focus at that time being a speculative thesis that the company is pitching to offload its Silenor asset to biotech behemoth GlaxoSmithKline plc (ADR) (NYSE:GSK).Our argument was that the latter would want to take the drug over-the-counter and that this could serve up a nice injection of a capital for the company if and when any such deal materialized. PTX Daily ChartThis week, the company has just put out its third-quarter earnings results and – alongside the results – gave markets a business update and held a pretty revealing conference call.In our opinion, the developments addressed on the call, as well as the numbers associated with the latest earnings report, represent a real turning point for Pernix and – in turn – the shareholders that have held the company through what has been a pretty rough two years.There are a couple of things we are looking at as supportive of this statement – here's a look at each.First up, the earnings report itself was strong. The company reported third-quarter revenues at $40.5 million, up 18% on the $34.3 million recorded during the second quarter. Selling, general and administrative expense decreased by 9% year over year. Net income for the third quarter of 2017 was $6.4 million.This is a big one – it's the first time the company has recorded a net profit in many years and it's been a long-stated goal of company CEO since he kicked off his tenure at Pernix back during the summer of last year. Further, adjusted EBITDA was $11.6 million, a 104% increase sequentially from $5.7 million recorded in the second quarter of this year, and a 38% increase from $8.4 million recorded during the same quarter in 2016. A 100% increase in EBITDA is a real milestone for a company and it's one that makes it incredibly attractive to any potential buyers.Looking at things from an operational perspective, Zohydro ER total scripts are up 4% quarter over quarter, as are Silenor scripts, while Treximet scripts are flat. For a company that's cut costs to bring in a positive bottom line, positive or flat trends in scripts issued is a darn good result.So numbers look good, sales look good – why else are we excited about this one right now?Well, we also learned that management has been able to offload one of the company's assets – a drug called Cedax – to an as yet undisclosed party for $2 million. This is a cephalosporin antibiotic that the company hasn’t done anything with since 2016 and the company basically had it sat on shelves in the warehouse up until this point. TO offload it for an upfront $2 million is a real win and it's one that falls – again – in line with one of the key aims that Sedor outlined when he took the helm at Pernix.The company has a whole host of non-core assets and with the latest confirmed divestiture of Cedax, it's ability to monetize these 'dead' assets has been validated. There's another benefit to further divestiture – Pernix has been plagued by debt issues over the last twelve months and this has led to a degree of downside pressure on the company's share price. The $2 million that's just come in will go some way to lifting this downside weight and any further similar developments will continue to ease the situation.There's still a degree of uncertainty here, don't get us wrong. The company isn’t entirely out of the woods and there's some way to go before it can return to the success Pernix enjoyed before, say 2014. With that said, however, the company is very much underway with a comeback and – as is a rarity in this space – it's got a CEO that's following through on his promises to buckle down and drag a troubled company out of trouble.Things are definitely moving in the right direction.Check out our previous coverage of this one here. We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on PTX, sign up below!Image courtesy of Rennett Stowe via FlickrDisclosure: We have no position in PTX and have not been compensated for this article.